About SME

2017 SME Member Council Bios

Chair

Dean L. Phillips is currently a production enhancement engineer with LINK Systems. For over 25 years, he’s been involved in manufacturing, helping companies improve their safety and productivity. For SME, Phillips has spent more than 10 years developing programs and assisting volunteer efforts for both the Technical Communities and local chapters. During his seven-year Nashville Chapter 43 leadership tenure, he converted its electronic bulletins in 2010 to web-based communications, saving $6,000 per year and expanding the reach to over 1,800 manufacturers. Phillips also worked to increase the chapter’s scholarship fund to over $100, 000, and then oversaw the distribution of more than $7,500 to students and schools. As an SME membership consultant, he has worked with local chapters to design successful engagement programs and fundraising opportunities. As vice-chair of SME’s Forming & Fabricating Community, Phillips developed a strategy for FABTECH and the community’s webinar program. In 2014, while serving on the Member Council, he led various task forces on engagement, communication and evaluation of membership. As an advisor to the Technical Community Network, Phillips helped the TCN redefine themselves in the eyes of the member. He established a student chapter at the Tennessee Career Center and subsequently created the first tool and die program there. Phillips founded the online Volunteer Leaders Discussion Group, a leadership service that helps chapter and TCN executives find answers, develop skills and share best practices with fellow leaders. He is currently working with Chapter 43, the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and the Tennessee Manufacturers Association to develop a new Manufacturing Day 2015 program. SME Member Since 2005

Council Members

Melissa T. Dochter is a machine solutions specialist in OEM engineering sales for Schneider Electric. In 2009 and 2010, she served as chair-elect and chair, respectively, for SME’s Penn State student chapter. During her term as chair, membership more than doubled in size as she worked on redefining the chapter’s objectives and strengthening involvement. Dochter was also a member of the 2011-12 International Director/Member Council Nominating Committee. She is currently serving on the 2015-16 SME Member Council and various task teams. Dochter earned her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from Penn State University in 2010. SME Member Since 2009

Louis C. "Lou" Dorworth has been working in the advanced composites industry since 1978. He has been associated with Abaris since its inception in 1983 and employed by Abaris Training since 1989. Dorworth’s background includes many years of education and experience in composite materials research and development, manufacturing engineering, material and process engineering, and tool design and fabrication. His aerospace composite background includes work on such programs as the Lear Fan 2100, Beechcraft Starship 1, B-2 bomber, C-17 transport, MD-11, Boeing 777, Airbus A-330/340, as well as many unmanned vehicle projects and programs. In addition, Dorworth has been involved with a number of nonaerospace programs, ranging from wind blades to snowboards to marine vessels to submersibles. He has been a professional member of the Society for the Advancement of Material & Process Engineering since 1982, having published a variety of technical papers over the years. Dorworth also co-authored “Essentials of Advanced Composite Fabrication & Repair.” He is also the current chair of the PCC Community and the Composites Manufacturing Tech Group. SME Member Since 1997

Karl R. Haapala, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at Oregon State University, where he directs the Industrial Sustainability Laboratory and is assistant director of the OSU Industrial Assessment Center. Haapala received his bachelor's degree (2001) and master's degree (2003) in mechanical engineering, and his doctorate in mechanical engineering-engineering mechanics as an NSF IGERT trainee (2004-08), from Michigan Technological University. Haapala has served in a variety of capacities within ASME, IIE and SME, and has been inducted into the honor societies of Pi Tau Sigma, Phi Kappa Phi and Sigma Xi. His research addresses sustainable manufacturing challenges, including life-cycle engineering methods, manufacturing process performance modeling and sustainable engineering education. Haapala has received funding from DOE, NIST, NSF, U.S. Army, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Oregon Metals Initiative and industry. His work has appeared in more than 90 peer-reviewed proceedings and journal articles. SME Member Since 2002

Jason Jones, PhD, is the co-founder and CEO of Hybrid Manufacturing Technologies, a 3D printing startup, which is equipping CNC machines with additive manufacturing capabilities. Jones has a doctorate in 3D printing from the University of Warwick and has led millions of dollars of additive manufacturing research during the last decade. He has investigated 3D printing/digital fabrication techniques for multimaterial functional parts and hybrid processing approaches for metals. Jones serves as a task group chair for ASTM where he has led the development of several standards for 3D printing (including ISO 52921). For five years prior to Jone's research appointment, he worked as technical manager in the CNC and 3D printing industry at Unimatic Engineers Ltd. in London. He is the 2015-16 chair of the Additive Manufacturing Community. SME Member Since 2012

John Kovalchuck, LSME, CMfgE, is a CNC instructor in engineering and advanced technology at Macomb Community College. Kovalchuck has held two terms as SME international director, two terms as SME Certification chair and served as the SME International Strategies Committee chair. He was chair of the former Greater Detroit Chapter 235 and a two-term CASA/SME Lead Award Committee member. While at Ford, Kovalchuck was the superintendent of the Dearborn tool and die plant and an NC CAD/CAM systems manager. At GM/EDS, he was an applications engineer in the NC and CAD/CAM system engineering department. Kovalchuck instructed CNC at Western Illinois University and Bowling Green State University. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Stout and holds 10 NIMS level-one certifications. Kovalchuck was awarded Teacher of the Year by the Air Force twice and Master Teacher by the Michigan Industrial Teachers Education Society. SME Member Since 1980

Maite Mauri is a manufacturing engineer and lean practitioner who, as chair, re-established the student chapter at California State University, Long Beach. In 2006, Mauri led the student chapter to the WESTEC Manufacturing Challenge, where she was awarded its Leadership in Manufacturing Award and associated scholarship. Two months later, Mauri joined Northrop Grumman where she worked on the F-35 and F/A-18. She then joined Zodiac Aerospace as part of a handful of individuals responsible for deploying lean company wide. Mauri has been an active supporter of SME and has held various leadership roles, from being a speaker and coordinator for Career Connections at WESTEC to being the chair of Seattle Chapter 39, with more than 370 members, for the last two years. Mauri is an advocate for STEM education and hopes to inspire the next generation into careers in engineering and manufacturing. In 2015, she was included in SME’s Advanced Manufacturing Media’s list of “30 Under 30” honorees. SME Member Since 2005

Cary J. Rosenberg, CMfgE, an SME endowment member, is a senior manager global supplier quality and sourcing for Watts Water Technologies Inc., which designs and manufactures valves and related products in commercial, residential, industrial and municipal applications. Rosenberg is responsible for a large supply chain of more than 12,000 suppliers, with an active part number list of 240,000 items. He has responsibility of support for 22 operations worldwide. Rosenberg monitors the supplier’s performance and works on quality issues, along with supplier risk management and sourcing/purchasing activities. He holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s degree in industrial technologies. In 2009, Rosenberg became a six sigma/lean green belt for Watts. Rosenberg has been in manufacturing since 1994. He holds certifications as a lead auditor for quality management systems and environmental management systems auditor through Exemplar Global. Involved in manufacturing since 1994, Rosenberg has worked for manufacturing companies in many market segments from appliances, defense, lumber, heavy equipment and presently in the heavily regulated Water sector. He has been published in four different periodicals of “Engineering Casting Solutions,” various SME publications, “Design News” and “Lift Equipment.” When Rosenberg was in the heavy equipment industry from 1996 to 2001, he worked for JLG lifts, which was honored by IndustryWeek as one of America’s Best Plants in 1999. From 2013-14, he served on the SME Member Council and, in 2014, was elected its vice-chair as well as served on various task teams. From 2011-12, Rosenberg was a member of the Student Relations Committee, serving as its chair in 2011. He is the former chair Southern New Hampshire Chapter 327 and helped start the Nashua High School South U215 student chapter. Rosenberg is currently an SME membership consultant to the three New Hampshire chapters. SME Member Since 1993

Rohan Shirwaiker, PhD, is an assistant professor in Industrial and Systems Engineering at North Carolina State University, and a part of the Advanced Manufacturing and Biomedical Manufacturing faculty groups. He is also an associate faculty of the UNC-NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering and a member of the Center for Additive Manufacturing and Logistics, the Comparative Medicine Institute and the Integrated Manufacturing Systems Engineering Institute. Shirwaiker’s work focuses on the design and manufacturing of implantable and tissue engineered medical products. His group collaborates with surgeons, biologists and other engineers to create and advance medical product technologies to address musculoskeletal clinical needs that currently lack appropriate alternatives. Shirwaiker has been a recipient of multiple academic awards including the SME's Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award (2016), Institute of Industrial Engineering’s Manufacturing and Design Outstanding Young Investigator Award (2015), SME Distinguished Faculty Advisor Award (2014) and Best Young Investigator Research Poster Award at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons/Orthopaedic Research Society Musculoskeletal Infection Symposium (2014). He serves as the faculty advisor to SME's North Carolina State University S317 student chapter. SME Member Since 2012

Brock T. Strunk is currently chief structures engineer at Epic Aircraft LLC working on the E1000 all composite aircraft FAA certification. Since joining SME as a student member at the Oregon Institute of Technology, Strunk has held multiple leadership roles on both the international and chapter levels, including co-chair of Technical Community Network; chair and vice-chair of the Member Council, vice-chair of the Plastics, Composites & Coatings Community; co-chair of the Finishing Processes Tech Group; an advisor for the Composites Manufacturing Tech Group; vice-chair and treasurer of Denver Chapter 77; and vice-chair of the Oregon Institute of Technology S036 student chapter. In 2008, he was awarded SME's Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer Award. Strunk has presented at multiple SME conferences in the area of composite repair and manufacturing. He has worked on numerous composite aircraft structures during his tenure in the aerospace community. Previously, Strunk worked as a senior structures engineer at Erickson Air-Crane Helicopter Inc., a level 3 stress engineer at Spirit AeroSystems, an engineering manager at Adam Aircraft and a senior structures engineer at Columbia Aircraft. He earned a bachelor’s degree in manufacturing engineering and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Oregon Institute of Technology. SME Member Since 1999